PlayStation Crossplay Will Be More Common Soon | Screen Rant
More games will be cross-play compatible on PlayStation, according to Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan. While the rest of the gaming industry has wholly embraced multiplayer crossplay, PlayStation has been the only platform not to. Both Xbox and Nintendo have a plethora of titles with cross-play, allowing the two platforms to interact with each other as well as PC. Conversely, PlayStation has notoriously danced around the issue. In 2018, Jim Ryan addressed the issue that PlayStation is the best place to play, inferring that they should buy a Sony console if players want to play together.
The cross-play controversy has persisted through today. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford recently revealed that Borderlands 3 will receive a cross-play update - but not on PlayStation. Pitchford believes the fault lies with Sony and its policy. That policy requires publishers or developers to pay Sony a fee for the enabling of crossplay on PlayStation. No such fee is required to enable the feature on Xbox or Switch. Because of this, many in the industry have called Sony out for being the only real obstacle.
As reported by VG24/7, Ryan said in an interview with Axios that crossplay would be more common in multiplayer going forward. Praising how well the feature has worked so far for popular games like Apex Legends and Call of Duty, Ryan says that Sony “supports and encourages cross-play.” A far cry from the original stance that the company took only a few years ago. He was also asked but didn’t clarify why Borderlands 3 cross-play is currently being blocked on PlayStation, which Ryan says is a “live business issue with a long-standing partner.”
Gamers should be excited at the prospect of more crossplay-enabled games coming to PlayStation. Though a company like Sony wants players to choose PlayStation over other platforms, it shouldn’t be the reason why they can’t play with each other. With the business of gaming shifting more toward free-to-play style models for the foreseeable future, crossplay is an important component of the success of these games. Especially with new games continuing to focus more on multiplayer than singleplayer.
Hopefully, Sony has realized that its player base wants to play with more people outside of PlayStation consoles and live up to its promise. Unfortunately, the second half of 2021 is looking a bit barren for PlayStation's exclusive lineup. However, supporting cross-play could help bring more sales to the platform until its next wave of exclusives is ready to launch.
Source: VG24/7